Nixon had lists upon lists upon lists. They were tragic lists saying, 'Smile more,' or, 'Be stronger - remember, it is your job to spiritually uplift the nation.' This understanding of his limitations is heartbreaking.

I do have an innate understanding of where a story should or shouldn't go, in a way that I don't think can be taught.

I have no directing ambition whatsoever. And as long as I meet filmmakers like Tom Hooper, Stephen Frears, and others who allow that collaboration, I can't see why I would ever want to direct.

Ambition interests me because it's such a surefire indicator of damage.

I could do an American accent, if I were immersed in the accent, meaning if I were living back in Los Angeles and rehearsing and auditioning the whole time.

There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.

I've learned some of the greatest life lessons from growing up in the skate and punk rock communities.

Being an actor is a matter of choice that, above all, takes place at an existential level: either you express the conservative structures of society and are nothing more that a tool in the hands of power, or you address the progressive components of this society in an attempt to settle a revolutionary relation between art and life.